Baudouin of Belgium

Baudouin I
King of the Belgians
Reign 17 July 1951 – 31 July 1993
(42 years)
Predecessor Leopold III
Successor Albert II
Consort Fabiola de Mora y Aragón
House House of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha
Father Leopold III of Belgium
Mother Astrid of Sweden
Born 7 September 1930(1930-09-07)
Laeken, Belgium
Died 31 July 1993(1993-07-31) (aged 62)
Motril, Spain
Belgian Royalty
House of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha
Coats of arms of Belgium Government.svg
Leopold I
Children
   Crown Prince Louis-Philippe
   Leopold II
   Philippe, Count of Flanders
   Charlotte, Empress of Mexico
Grandchildren
   Prince Baudouin
   Princess Josephine Marie
   Princess Henriette, Duchess of Vendome and Alencon
   Josephine Caroline, Princess of Hohenzollern-Sigmaringen
   Albert I
Leopold II
Children
   Louise-Marie, Princess of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha
   Leopold, Duke of Brabant
   Stéphanie, Crown Princess of Austria
   Clémentine, Princess Napoléon
Albert I
Children
   Leopold III
   Prince Charles
   Marie-José, Queen of Italy
Leopold III
Children
   Joséphine-Charlotte, Grand Duchess of Luxembourg
   Baudouin
   Albert II
   Prince Alexander
   Princess Marie-Christine
   Princess Maria-Esmeralda
Baudouin
Albert II
Children
   Philippe, Duke of Brabant
   Astrid, Archduchess of Austria-Este
   Prince Laurent
Grandchildren
   Princess Elisabeth
   Prince Gabriel
   Prince Emmanuel
   Princess Eléonore
   Princess Louise
   Prince Nicolas
   Prince Aymeric

Baudouin (Dutch: Boudewijn Albert Karel Leopold Axel Marie Gustaaf van België, French: Baudouin Albert Charles Léopold Axel Marie Gustave de Belgique) (7 September 1930 – 31 July 1993) reigned as King of the Belgians, following his father's abdication, from 1951 until his death in 1993. He was the eldest son of King Leopold III (1901–1983) and his first wife, Princess Astrid of Sweden (1905–1935). Having had no children, the crown passed on to his brother, Albert II of Belgium, upon his death. He is the first cousin of King Harald V of Norway , Princess Astrid of Norway, and Princess Ragnhild of Norway. Baudouin is the French form of his name, the form most commonly used outside Belgium; his Dutch name is Boudewijn. Very rarely, his name is anglicized as Baldwin.

Contents

Ascent to the throne

Baudouin was born in Stuyvenberg Castle, near Laeken, Brussels, in Belgium. On 1 August 1950 his father King Leopold III requested the Belgian Government and the Parliament to approve a law delegating his royal powers to his son, Prince Baudouin, who took the constitutional oath before the United Chambers of the Belgian Parliament as Prince Royal on 11 August 1950. He ascended the throne and became the fifth King of the Belgians upon taking the constitutional oath on 17 July 1951, one day following his father's abdication.

Part of Leopold III's unpopularity was the result of a second marriage in 1941 to Mary Lilian Baels, an English-born Belgian commoner, later known as Princess de Réthy. More controversial had been Leopold's decision to surrender to Nazi Germany during World War II, when Belgium was invaded in 1940; many Belgians questioned his loyalties, but a commission of inquiry exonerated him of treason after World War II. Though reinstated in a plebiscite, the controversy surrounding Leopold led to his abdication.

Marriage

On 15 December 1960, Baudouin was married in Brussels to the aristocrat socialite Her Excellency Doña Fabiola Fernanda María de las Victorias Antonia Adelaida de Mora y Aragón, the third daughter of Don Gonzalo de Mora y Fernández, Riera y del Olmo, Marquess of Casa Riera, 2nd Count of Mora (1887—1957) and his wife, Blanca de Aragón y Carrillo de Albornoz, Barroeta-Aldamar y Elio, Marchioness of Casa Riera, 2nd Countess of Mora (1892—1981). She is the sister of the late Count Jaime de Mora y Aragón, a Spanish actor and jet-set playboy. Queen Fabiola was a former nurse and a writer of children's stories. Her Majesty is immensely popular for her good cheer, personal modesty, and devotion to social causes. The Belgian Royal Couple had no children.

Notable events

During Baudouin's reign the colony of Belgian Congo was given its independence, and the King personally attended the festivities; he gave a speech that was widely seen as insensitive to the atrocities in the Congo, and the speech received a blistering response by Congolese Prime Minister Patrice Lumumba,[1] who shortly thereafter was assassinated, allegedly with Belgian and US support.

In 1976, on the 25th anniversary of Baudouin's accession, the King Baudouin Foundation was formed, with the aim of improving the living conditions of the Belgian people.

He was the 1,176th Knight of the Order of the Golden Fleece in Spain in 1960 and the 930th Knight of the Order of the Garter.

In 1985, he was presented with photographs taken during World War II by Glenn Kappelman, a member of the 106th Cavalry Group which had freed the Royal Family from German captivity in May 1945. Baudouin was fourteen years old at the time when the American soldiers learned that the family was being held at a villa near Strobl, Austria.[2]

Religious influences

Baudouin was a deeply religious Roman Catholic. Through the influence of Leo Cardinal Suenens, Baudouin participated in the growing Catholic Charismatic Renewal and regularly went on pilgrimages to the French shrine of Paray-le-Monial.

In 1990, when a law submitted by Roger Lallemand and Lucienne Herman-Michielsens, liberalising Belgium's abortion laws, was approved by Parliament, he refused to give Royal Assent, an unprecedented act in Belgium. Royal Assent is without much significance per se since, as in most modern constitutional and popular monarchies, it has long been a formality. However, because of his religious convictions, Baudouin asked the Government to declare him temporarily unable to reign so that he could avoid signing the measure into law.[3] The Government under Wilfried Martens complied with his request on 4 April 1990. According to the provisions of the Belgian Constitution, in the event the King is temporarily unable to reign, the Government as a whole fulfills the role of Head of State. All members of the Government signed the bill, and the next day (5 April 1990) the Government declared that Baudouin was capable of reigning again.

Death, succession, and legacy

Baudouin reigned for 42 years until dying of heart failure on 31 July 1993 in the Villa Astrida in Motril, in the south of Spain. His death was unexpected, and sent much of Belgium into a period of deep mourning. It was a mark of great affection and respect for King Baudouin that Queen Elizabeth II attended the funeral in person; by tradition the British monarch attends only those funerals which are of close family members (they were only third cousins) or such politicians as prime ministers who die while in office. He was returned to Brussels on 1 August 1993. King Baudouin was interred in the royal vault at the Church of Our Lady, Laeken Cemetery, Brussels, Belgium.

Baudouin was succeeded by his younger brother, who became King Albert II.

Ancestry

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 16. Leopold I of Belgium
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 8. Prince Philippe, Count of Flanders
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 17. Princess Louise-Marie of Orléans
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 4. Albert I of Belgium
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 18. Charles Anthony, Prince of Hohenzollern
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 9. Princess Marie of Hohenzollern-Sigmaringen
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 19. Princess Josephine of Baden
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 2. Leopold III of Belgium
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 20. Duke Maximilian Joseph in Bavaria
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 10. Duke Karl-Theodor in Bavaria
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 21. Princess Ludovika of Bavaria
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 5. Duchess Elisabeth in Bavaria
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 22. Miguel of Portugal
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 11. Infanta Maria Josepha of Portugal
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 23. Princess Adelaide of Löwenstein-Wertheim-Rosenberg
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Baudouin of Belgium
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 24. Oscar I of Sweden
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 12. Oscar II of Sweden
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 25. Duchess Josephine of Leuchtenberg
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 6. Prince Carl, Duke of Västergötland
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 26. William, Duke of Nassau
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 13. Princess Sofia of Nassau
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 27. Princess Pauline of Württemberg
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 3. Princess Astrid of Sweden
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 28. Christian IX of Denmark
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 14. Frederick VIII of Denmark
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 29. Princess Louise of Hesse-Kassel
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 7. Princess Ingeborg of Denmark
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 30. Charles XV of Sweden
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 15. Princess Louise of Sweden
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 31. Princess Louise of the Netherlands
 
 
 
 
 
 

See also

Monarchical styles of
King Baudouin of the Belgians
Coats of arms of Belgium Government.svg
Reference style His Majesty
Spoken style Your Majesty
Alternative style Sire

References

  1. ↑ http://www.africawithin.com/lumumba/independence_speech.htm, delivered 30 June 1960. Accessed 20 January 2009.
  2. ↑ Glenn L. Kappelman (2003). Through My Sights: A Gunner's View of WWII. Sunflower Publishing. p. 4. ISBN 0970476418. 
  3. ↑ "Belgium: Commoner for A Day, or Two". Time. 16 April 1990. http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,969868,00.html. Retrieved 26 April 2010. 

Bibliography

External links

Baudouin of Belgium
Cadet branch of the House of Wettin
Born: 7 September 1930 Died: 31 July 1993
Regnal titles
Preceded by
Leopold III		 King of the Belgians
1951–1993		 Succeeded by
Albert II
Royal titles
Preceded by
Leopold		 Duke of Brabant
1934–1951		 Succeeded by
Philippe
Preceded by
New creation		 Count of Hainaut
1930–1934		 Succeeded by
In disuse